John Wifler, the pilot of the fake fiberglass orca, is pulled from the capsized vessel in the Columbia River outside of the East End Mooring Basin on Thursday in Astoria, Ore.(Photo: JOSHUA BESSEX/DAILY ASTORIAN)

ASTORIA, Ore. – When a 32-foot replica killer whale buzzed through the water to scare off hundreds of sea lions piled on an Oregon dock, onlookers cheered. And then the dummy orca went belly-up.

The motorized fiberglass orca was brought to the seaside town of Astoria on June 4 as a sort of maritime Clint Eastwood — called upon to deal with ne’er-do-wells, in this case sea lions crowding onto docks and making it difficult for locals to access their boats.

But the orca’s first day on the job was a flop.

About 1,000 people cheered as the dummy whale — with its human operator inside — took to the water that night. Jim Knight, executive director of the Port of Astoria, said sea lions that were crowded onto the docks became “deathly silent.”

As a cargo ship passed by, the phony orca started to list from the vessel’s wake. And then the bogus orca capsized.

“Our crew from the port had to go rescue the operator so he didn’t drown,” Knight said.

The replica whale — loaned by a whale-watching business — was delivered overland on June 4 from Bellingham, Washington. After arrival, the orca’s outboard motor flooded and a replacement had to be found.

Sea lion numbers along the West Coast have grown sharply since they were protected under a 1972 federal law. The sea lions who have been taking over docks at the Port of Astoria are attracted by runs of a fish known as smelt, federal biologists say.

While the thousands of tourists who visit Astoria each year might find the sea lions amusing, many locals see them as a nuisance.

Officials have tried just about everything to keep the sea lions away — including beach balls, colorful tape, chicken wire and electrified mats.

The fake orca was outfitted with recordings of real killer whale calls, especially the “call to dinner” — usually emitted in the wild after they kill a sea lion or seal.

The orca capsized before the recording could be tried out.

Man calls 911 after cat attack, standoff

STAMFORD, Conn. – A man called 911 to report that his cat attacked him and was being so aggressive that he and his wife couldn’t get back into their home for nearly four hours, police say.

Mohammed Lokman called Stamford police just after 1:30 a.m. June 3. He said the nearly 8-pound cat attacked his leg and bit him late the night before.

Lokman and his wife then went outside. He told a dispatcher that when they tried to get back in, the cat was waiting behind the door in an aggressive manner. The couple ended up sitting in their car for a while.

The couple was able to get back inside after the 911 call. Police advised them to stay away from the cat the rest of the night.

Novice German driver unscathed after crash with British tank

BERLIN – A novice driver escaped unharmed but her car was crushed after she inadvertently turned into the path of a convoy of British tanks, police in western Germany say.

Lippe police spokesman Lars Risserbusch said Tuesday the 18-year-old had apparently not seen the convoy when she made a left turn in front of it. The lead tank was unable to stop in time and the 62-ton main battle tank plowed over the front of her Toyota hatchback.

The tanks, from a British base in nearby Paderborn, were traveling through a military maneuver area that is also open to public traffic on their way to training exercises June 1. Police estimate $13,500 damage to the woman’s car.

The tank was unscathed.

Cops: Man ran fake DUI checkpoint while drunk

SOMERSET, Pa. – A man who set up a drunken-driving checkpoint complete with road flares while pretending to be a Pennsylvania state trooper was drunk, police say.

Troopers say Logan Shaulis, 19, of Somerset, parked his vehicle diagonally across state Route 601 and set up road flares at about 4 a.m. May 30.

A motorist who stopped says Shaulis claimed he was a trooper and demanded to see a driver’s license, registration and insurance papers.

When real troopers arrived, police say Shaulis tried to hand a BB pistol to the car’s passenger and said, “I can’t get caught with this.”

He faces charges including drunken driving, impersonating a public servant and unlawful restraint. He remained jailed June 2.

A preliminary hearing is set for June 9.

Man called a great impostor is charged with identity theft

DETROIT – Police investigating bad checks say they found much more: A Detroit-area impostor who inspired a 1989 award-winning film was posing like someone else — again.

William Street Jr., 64, was charged in federal court with fraud and identity theft after he was found with documents and a white doctor’s coat with the name of a Maryland man, William Benn Stratton.

Street has 25 convictions going back decades and even fooled the Detroit Tigers into giving him a tryout in the 1970s, The Detroit News reported June 5.

“Oh, my God, you can’t make this stuff up. I am completely dumbfounded and speechless,” said Stratton, 54, who isn’t a doctor but a vice president at ClearShark, a technology company in Hanover, Maryland.

Street was the inspiration for “Chameleon Street,” which won a major prize at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival. Defense attorney Joseph Arnone acknowledged the “long history here” and said he was investigating the allegations.

“He has proved himself to be extraordinarily resourceful in perpetuating his schemes,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford said last week in keeping Street locked up while he awaits trial.

Street told the FBI that he decided to assume Stratton’s identity after reading about the former Green Beret running a marathon, according to a court filing. He obtained diplomas, transcripts and a U.S. Military Academy class ring in Stratton’s name, the FBI said.

The white coat had Stratton’s name and the name of a University of Michigan medical clinic.

“He was at U of M, saw the lab coat laying around and he picked it up. He’s just an opportunist. If he sees something, he takes it and takes on that role,” said Robert Antal, a Plymouth Township police detective.

In 1985, Street told the News that the Tigers tryout was a turning point.

“That was the first time I found out how easy it was to get people to believe whatever you said as long as you said it right,” he said.

Phoenix sets June 5 rainfall record with a measly .01 inch

PHOENIX – It didn’t take much rain to set a record in Phoenix.

The National Weather Service says the .01 inch of rain recorded at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport by 7 a.m. June 5 was the largest amount for that day.

There has not been any precipitation recorded previously on the date in the desert city.

June is normally dry in Phoenix, but a thunderstorm with moisture from remnants of Tropical Storm Andres provided a bit of a change.

“We’ve now got #RainOnThe5thOfJune. Officially measuring 0.01” at Sky Harbor. Record broke,” the weather service office said in a Twitter post.

Police: Man baked potato, raked leaves during break-in

HOBBS, N.M. – New Mexico man is facing charges after police say he walked into an unlocked home, stole car keys and stunned a resident who found him baking a potato and raking leaves.

Patrick Lynn Waits, 45, was arrested early June 2 following a bizarre chain of events that confused residents of a Hobbs home, the Hobbs News-Sun reports.

A female resident awoke to noise in her kitchen, and found Waits allegedly wiping down a countertop and baking a potato in her microwave oven, police said. “She asked him what he was doing there, and he told her he was making a potato,” according to a police report.

When told to leave, a criminal complaint says Waits walked outside and left his potato in the microwave.

The report said Waits then went outside to rake leaves in the front yard.

The female resident convinced Waits to stay by saying she wanted to pay him for his service, police said. The move was apparently a ploy to get Waits to stay long enough before authorities arrived, police said.

Waits was found stumbling while walking, and he slurred when he talked, officials said.

Waits was arrested on burglary and unlawful entry charges. He also faces several felony warrants for failure to appear in court.

State: Man who said Holy Spirit guided him ran Ponzi scheme

BOSTON – The Massachusetts secretary of state’s office says a man who told investors that the Holy Spirit guided his trading system has been charged with running a Ponzi scheme.

Secretary of State William Galvin said in a complaint filed June 2 that Charles Erickson defrauded at least 25 investors out of about $3.5 million.

Authorities say about a third of those recruited for the program attended the same church as Erickson, who claimed the Holy Spirit had given him a proprietary day-trading system for a volatile type of futures contract. Authorities say he guaranteed returns of 96 percent over two years.

A woman who answered the phone at Erickson’s home said they had no comment.

Yellow paint spill means slow-going on I-68 in Maryland

HANCOCK, Md. – Yellow means slow on Interstate 68 in western Maryland, where crews were cleaning up 6,500 gallons of spilled paint.

The Maryland State Highway Administration said June 4 the cleanup will continue at least through Saturday night.

The agency says one westbound lane will be closed during daylight hours so workers can scrape the road and replace the guard rail.

State police say the driver of an overturned tractor-trailer was texting on a cellphone when he lost control of the vehicle the night before, causing plastic barrels of white and yellow paint to fall and break.

Both westbound lanes were closed for nearly 12 hours overnight, backing up traffic for up to 2 miles.

The wreck was reported shortly after 6 p.m. June 3 about 10 miles west of Hancock.

That’s not mistletoe ... North Pole won’t block pot sales

NORTH POLE, Alaska – North Pole residents can put marijuana on their Christmas list next year.

The city council in North Pole, Alaska, rejected a measure June 1 that would have banned marijuana dispensaries. Marijuana became legal in Alaska in February, and sales begin next year.

Claus said he is medical marijuana patient, and he’d like to buy pot in North Pole instead of making the short drive to Fairbanks.

Some worried how others might perceive North Pole if marijuana dispensaries are allowed. But one council member noted North Pole already allows the sale of alcohol, cigarettes and guns.

Israel army scraps punishment for soldier over pork sandwich

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military on June 2 scrapped a punishment for a U.S.-born Israeli soldier who had caused a stink by violating the military’s kosher rules by eating a pork sandwich while in uniform.

Earlier, the military said the soldier, whose name was not released, “violated rules and regulations,” which required him to be disciplined.

The soldier was initially given an 11-day prison sentence. The punishment was later converted to being confined to base for the same duration — after relatives talked to the media and a lawmaker wrote to the defense minister about the case.

But the military then changed its decision yet again, and cancelled any punishment.

“We were wrong. The (Israel Defense Forces) will continue to keep kosher on one hand, but will not probe a soldier’s sandwich on the other,” military spokesman Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz wrote on Facebook. “There are tensions in Israeli society and there are different stances and opinions. There is room for everyone in the IDF.”

Israel’s army maintains kosher kitchens on its bases.

Israel Radio said the soldier, who moved to Israel from Boston recently, was unaware of the army’s strict dietary restrictions and was merely snacking on a lunch his secular grandmother had made him.

German police alerted to armed mob of asparagus pickers

BERLIN – Police in rural northeastern Germany rushed out to track down a reported mob of up to 15 people armed with knives and sticks. Instead, they found a group of asparagus harvesters.

Police in the town of Ludwigslust said a man called their emergency number Saturday to report having seen “10 to 15 people armed with knives and sticks” on a local road.

Within minutes, six police cars were on their way to the scene. Officers quickly discovered, however, that the group was asparagus harvesters walking along the road with their work tools as they went to take a lunch break.

White asparagus is a popular delicacy in Germany and a ubiquitous sight on restaurant menus in late spring.

School finds missing SAT exams

ASHBURN, Va. – More than 200 Virginia students probably won’t have to retake their SAT exams after all: Officials who blamed UPS for losing the box of tests say it’s been found at the school.

The college entrance exams went missing last month at Broad Run High School in Ashburn. The 260 students had taken the test May 2. Many were upset to learn they might have to retake it.

But Loudoun County schools spokesman Wayde Byard says the box was found June 1 in a shipping area at the school. Byard says the box was still sealed and was handed over immediately to a member of Educational Testing Service, which administers the exam. Byard says he expects the results to be validated.

Byard apologized to UPS and the students for the mistake.

South Florida woman reunited with her dog after 7 years

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A South Florida woman has been reunited with her Boston Terrier who ran away seven years ago.

WFOR-TV reports that Julie Arango got a call May 31 saying her dog, Lola, who ran away from her home in southwest Miami-Dade County seven years ago after digging a hole under a fence, has been found.

Linda Gall, a former veterinary technician, told the station someone was giving Lola away for free on Craigslist after caring for her for almost seven years. Gall took Lola to a veterinarian, discovered the information on the microchip and got in touch with Arango, her former owner. Arango says she never thought she would see her dog again.

On June 1, Arango and her daughter, Celina Papas, 19, drove to Fort Lauderdale to be reunited with their long-lost pet.

Doctor robbed of money, pants

MACON, Ga. – A robber got away with more than money in Georgia: Officials say he demanded his victim’s pants.

The Macon Telegraph reports that law enforcement officials say a man walked into the Harmony Medical Services office on June 1 and asked to see a doctor.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office says he was taken to the doctor, then pulled a gun and demanded his briefcase and pants, which had his wallet, ID and an undisclosed amount of cash. Officials say the robber left the Macon office with the items, fleeing on foot.

Officials were still looking for the robber and asking the public to call in any tips.

Woman builds 60-foot screen to block out home

THETFORD, Vt. – A former Vermont governor candidate says she had a 60-foot by 24-foot “screen” built so she wouldn’t have to see her neighbor’s home.

Ruth Dwyer tells WPTZ-TV she’s lived on her farm in rural Thetford for over 40 years. Two years ago, a home was built across the street.

Dwyer says one of her horses was startled by a child on the neighbor’s driveway, prompting her to plant cedar trees to block her view of the home. She had a temporary “screen” installed while they grow.

Zoning officials have since fined her $200 each day she doesn’t have a permit for the structure, adding up to more than $15,000.

Dwyer, denied a permit in February, says her screen doesn’t violate any rules.

Dwyer unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1998 and 2000.

Boston man and friends renting inflatable pub

BOSTON – This bouncy house is definitely not for the kids.

A Boston man and his friends plan to begin renting out an inflatable Irish pub. The blow-up bar can fit more than 70 people and resembles a traditional watering hole in Ireland, complete with fake red wooden doors and a thatched roof.

The venture is run by Boston resident and Dublin native Eoghan Cahill and a group of friends. Cahill told The Boston Globe the inflatable pubs are popular in Ireland and England, and Boston will be the first place in America that one will be offered for rent.

Cahill says he’ll buy more pubs to rent out if the business is successful.

Customers also will be offered Irish step dancing performances, musical acts and food and drink.

New Hampshire governor blocks baby pictures on beer bottles

CONCORD, N.H. – Sorry, baby, your picture isn’t going to be on the front of any beer bottles in New Hampshire.

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan on June 2 vetoed a measure that would have allowed some images of minors to grace alcoholic beverage labels as long as they didn’t encourage young people to drink.

Republican state Rep. Keith Murphy, who runs a popular tavern, sponsored the bill because he wanted to be able to buy Breakfast Stout, crafted by Founders Brewery Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The beer’s label depicts a chubby, Norman Rockwell-esque baby scooping oatmeal into his mouth.

Hassan said allowing the images could undermine the state’s efforts to fight underage drinking.

“Substance misuse, including alcohol misuse, continues to be one of the major public health and safety challenges facing us as a state,” Hassan said in her veto message. “Moreover, statistics suggest that New Hampshire has among the highest rates of underage drinking in the country.”

Murphy said the veto is an overreach and noted that neighboring Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont sell the beer. He also pointed out that a New Hampshire-produced craft beer, Smuttynose Baltic Porter, would have to come off the shelves because its label shows Father Time and a baby.

The federal government already prohibits alcohol labeling or advertising that targets minors.

Murphy’s bill would have given the state’s Liquor Commission discretion to approve or deny labels. He said he could understand the commission denying a label showing college kids partying but not the Breakfast Stout depiction.

“No reasonable person would believe that this label is intended to appeal to minors in any way,” he said.

But the director of enforcement and licensing for the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, James Wilson, said when the bill was introduced in January that the commission already has a “bright line standard” for labeling and was opposed to Murphy’s proposal.